Nutcracker.



PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

M. A; WHEATON.

N UTGRAOKER'.

APPLIOLTION nun HOV. 26.'1904.

WITNESSES.-

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NUTORACKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed November 26, 1904. Serial 110.234347.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MILTON A. IVHEATON, a citizen of the United. States, residing in the city andcounty of San Francisco and. State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Nutcrackers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device which is especially designed for cracking nuts and the like.

It consists in the construction, combinations andarrangement of parts, and in details of their construction all of which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. 3 is a similar view showing the jaws bent inward. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the jaws bent outward.

For convenience and accuracy of description I will treat the pivot 4, as standing in a vertical position, and that portion of the upper surface of the upper handle which surrounds the upper end of said pivot, and is on a level therewith, as being in a horizontal position, and make my descriptions accord ingly. I also include in 'the word handle the entire piece of metal which has a grip at one end, and carries the jaw at its opposite end. I also designate the end of each handle which carries the jaw as the inner end of the handle and the opposite end. as the outer end of the handle. I also designate the end of the jaw which is attached to the inner end of the handle as the lower end of the jaw and the opposite end as the upper end of the jaw.

In nutcrackers, as ordinarily constructed, the fulcrum of the movable aws is so disposed that while the smaller nuts may be grasped within a reasonable distance from the fulcrum. pin, the larger nuts are carried to such a distance therefrom that great power is necessary to break them.

The object of my invention is to produce a nutcracker that is of convenient size and construction for ordinary table use and which is always ready to receive and crack nuts of different sizes, large as well as small, and which also'furnishes the same amount of leverage power in cracking large nuts that it furnishes in cracking small nuts.

In the drawings AA are two handles pivoted. together at 4, and extending beyond the pivot. At its inner end each one of the handles has a jaw 2, that is turned upward in a direction that is nearly or quite parallel with the vertical center line of the pivot pin 4. These jaws diverge from each other as they project upwards from their lower ends. When the handles move apart from each other the jaws also recede from each other, and when the handles are pressed together the jaws move towards each other. By means of the divergence of the jaws they will receive between their inner edges nuts of different sizes, large as well as small, and as the jaws move in the arc of a circle, of which the vertical center line of the pivot pin is the center, the upper ends of the jaws are at practically the same distance from the center of motion and fulcrum pin as are the lower ends of the jaws, and therefore the leverage power applied by the closing of the handles is the same whether it is applied to the cracking of a large nut that is between the jaws at or near their upper ends or whether it is applied to the cracking of a small nut that is between the jaws at or near their lower ends.

The jaws are normally held open by any suitable spring. In the present case I have shown such spring spiral in form, and the ends of the spring may be conveniently held in sockets which are formed in the angles of the bends of the handles as shown at 8; but it will be manifest that the spring may be placed at any suitable or desired point, and may be of any form to produce the desired result.

As the pivot 4, is below a level line extended from the grip part of the handles to those portions of the jaws where the nuts to be cracked will be received there is normally a twisting strain upon the pivot-pin, which I have largely met. and overcome by the construction of the handles and parts as herein shown.

To the under side of the lower handle, and preferably an integral part thereof, is fixed a sleeve or extension which has a vertical hole or perforation that passes downthrough its longitudinal center line, and is of the proper size to receive the pivot pin 4, and allow it to turn horizontally therein. Y To the upper jaw, and preferably as an integral part thereof, I fix the pivot pin 4, which passes down through the sleeve 3, and thereby connects and holds the-two handles together. A nut screwed on to the lower end of the pivot pin may be used to hold it in place, or the lower end of the pivot pin may be enlarged by loosely riveting it so as to hold. the parts together. This plan forms a long connection between the two handles and insures a firm and steady movement of the jaws and prevents them from being twisted out of position when power is applied in cracking a nut.

To still further strengthen and reinforce the connection of the two handles, I make those portions of the handles which surround and spread outwards from the pivot pin, much broader than the other parts of the handles, thus forming very wide surfaces of contact between the two handles.

The lower end of the jaw 2 that is upturned from the lower handle A is undercut or formed with a slot or channel 2 into which the inner end of the broad part of the upper I handle is adapted to project.

When the jaws are closed together, as shown in Fig. 1, there is formed in the broad part of the lower handle a curved slot having the pivot pin 4, as its center of curvature. In the upper jaw is fixed a pin which projects down through the said slot in the lower jaw, and having a head which projects over the side of the slot, as shown at 6, in each one of the figures. This slot and pin limit the opening and closing movements of the jaws, as each end of the slot will stop the further movement of the pin and of the jaw in which it is fixed. These parts acting in conjunction with the interlocking portion at 2 on the opposite side of the pivot, greatly add to the strength of the structure and to maintain it in alignment against the strain of the work.

In the construction of my nutcracker I prefer to make a double bend in each one of the handles as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to carry the pivot pin and the broad parts of the handles adjacent thereto, down to a level that is lower than would be a horizontal line projected from the average level of the long parts of the handles to a point that is about half way between the upper and. lower ends of the upturned jaws. This arrangement brings the nut that is being cracked approximately in line with the plane in which the long parts of the handles move.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent is,

1. A nutcracker adapted to be held in the hand of the user, embodying two handles pivotally connected together near one end, each handle having, at a point in proximity to the pivot, a rigid jaw projecting transversely of the length of the handle, said jaws being disposed in opposition to each other andhaving their proximate faces divergent, whereby they are adapted to receive and crack nuts of different size with a uniform movement of the handles; substantially as described.

2. In a nutcracker two movable handles pivoted to each other, and each of said hanjaw, said jaws bein equidistant from the pivot and diverging i rom each other as they project upwards from the inner ends of the said handles to which they are fixed, and by which they are carried, and said jaws being pivoted together by an elongated pivot which is firmly fixed to the upper one of said jaws and passes down through the lower jaw and a sleeve extension which is firmly fixed thereto and projects downwardly therefrom substantially as described.

3. In a nutcracker two movable handles pivoted together, each handle having a aw upturned on its inner end and projecting in the direction of the length of the axis and the adjacent sides of said jaws being inclined so as to diverge from each other as they proj ect upwards from the inner ends of said handles, to which they are attached and by which they are carried to move directly toward and from each other, and each of said handles having in it a double bend by means of which the plane of the'movement of said handles is elevated so as to be approximately in line with the points in said jaws at which the nuts are received and cracked. v

4. In a nutcracker the combination of two handles pivoted together and havingwidened meeting-surfaces about the pivot, and upturned diverging jaws at theirinner ends; one handle having its jaw undercut, and being slotted through its widened part on the side of the pivot away from the jaw; and the other handle projecting at its inner end into said undercut and provided with a headed pin engaging the handle first mentioned through said slot.

5. A nutcracker comprising two handles pivoted together each of said handles having an upturned jaw on its inner end the adj a cent sides of which are inclined and diverge from each other as they project upwards fromsaid inner ends of said handles, and each of said handles having in it a double bend by means of which the plane in which the grip or long part of the handle moves will intersect the said diverging jaws at points that are approximately in line with the points in said jaws at which the nuts are received and cracked, substantially as herein described.

6. A nutcracker adapted to be held in the hand of the user, embodying two handles pivotally connected together near one end, each handle having, at a point in proximity to the pivot, a rigid jaw extending substantially parallel with the axis of the pivot, said jaws being disposed in opposition to each other and having their proximate faces divergent, whereby they are adapted to receive and crack nuts of different size with a uniform movement of the handles; substantially as described.

7. In a nutcracker, the combination of the dies carrying on its inner end an upturned two handles having at their inner ends upturned diverging jaws, the lower handle having a depending sleeve bearing, and the upper a p vot pin passing therethrough; both handles having a double bend, to approximately aline the pivot, the point of Work, and the point of application of power; Whereby also torsion is resisted, and constancy of relation maintained between the jaws.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 1n presence of tWo subsoriblng w1t- 1o nesses.

lVlILTON A. WHEATON. Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, D. B. RICHARDS. 

